Blog To-Do List

I love reading blog goals and to-do lists so I thought I'd share with you all some of the things that I've been thinking of accomplishing with this space. (I took a page from Tenneilhere - I am head over heels with her and her blog so you should check her out if you haven't already.)

GET A NEW LOGO.I'm wanting a watercolor calligraphy header - yah, basic bitch level. I've been obsessed with so many calligraphy accounts for the past few years and I think it's time I invest more into my branding. Also, I love the idea of supporting some smaller brands/individuals and have someone design it for me. If you have any referrals, please share them with me!

ORGANIZE THE BLOG. Going back through old posts and ensuring all labels and tags are up to date. In conjunction, work on a list of brands for easier navigation through my blog. This also includes going back through old posts and fixing broken links and working on lowering that bounce rate.

Look through old posts and move over Disqus comments back from the old Blogger days. I had worked on mapping out all the blog posts, but I think something ended up going wrong cause not all of them transferred over. I'm pretty sure most posts from a little over a year ago are missing all the old comments (which bothers me a little bit).

TAKE MORE PHOTOS.I guess this encompasses a few aspects, mainly expanding beyond just product photography with a white background or flat lay. Now I love a good flat lay, but I also want to challenge myself to be more creative and think outside of the box with my photos. I also want to work on being more comfortable taking photos - now I'm talking about being in front of the camera rather than behind it. It also seems like a lot of people enjoy the travel photo diary posts, so I want to experiment more with street photography. I'm aiming for a trip to Asia next year so fingers crossed that works out! And really though, I love taking photos of my travels as I love the idea of sharing with others how I view a city through my eyes.

BETTER UTILIZE SOCIAL MEDIA.I really need to learn how to better utilize Twitter and their automated tweets to help better promote my posts throughout the day. (No post left behind!) I also want to better utilize Tumblr and Pinterest. Reading Paula's blog and all her Pinterest tips really motivates me to put in a little bit of extra effort. I have read that a lot of time should actually be spent promoting rather than creating. Planning and being organized with social media is a bit of an administrative task, but I think the investment of doing so will be worth it in the long run.

Work on growing Instagram. I know this particular platform has gone from being loved to being a bit disappointing. Testing posting throughout different times of the day has helped, and I want to explore utilizing different hashtags to expand my audience group. Fingers crossed that one/two upcoming giveaways I have planned help boost traffic to my Instagram. Btw if you aren't already following, be sure to join in on the fun at Instagram.com/chyism ! (Of course I had to throw in some tidbits of my feed below for good measure.)

FOCUS ON ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY.One of these many reasons I got into blogging in the first place was because I loved reading new content and discovering new blogs. I find myself focusing a bit too much on creating content rather than engaging with the community or finding new ones to read. I guess it's a bit of time management, but I want to set aside more time to genuinely reading posts. I also think as part of my monthly edits I'll add in some blogger/post favorites just as a way to share a bit more of that blogger love.

I also really want to be better about responding to comments in a timely matter. I always get excited when I see that someone actually responds to a comment I left on their blog - it's the little things that connect you to the individual behind the blog. And hey, we're all part of this blogging community together so we should support one another and acknowledge that support given. *I promise I'll catch up on blog comment responses soon, I read them all!*

I really hope that I can accomplish a lot of these little to-do projects I have over the next year. It's all about playing catch up and it's better to start late than never. What are some to-do list items you have for your blog? Let's chat below!

PS - I hope you're all gearing up for the holidays, I can't believe it's in one week! My office holiday party is tonight and I'm so excited as it's my first official one! TBH I'm mostly excited to get all dolled up for the event. I'm gonna bring my camera so hopefully we'll get a shot or two of my outfit/makeup for the night.